The Boy Toy
by Queenie and Kate
Summary: A Rent-fic, a twist on the familiar "Girl falls in love with Mark because he's sad and cute" plot. *NEW* Chapter X, YAY! It's Mark and Aaron... I'm sure you were all waiting to see what happens with them.
1. I. Lisa: "I Told You Piercings Were Fun!...

Jean Valjean is the main character of Les Miserables

I

Lisa

"I Told You Piercings Were Fun!"

The first time I met her, she was coming in to get her tongue done. Short, Latina, _really _cute. Really out of my league though, especially since she's a hetero. Yeah, she brought her boyfriend along too- a nice, tough, blonde guy. A musician. Girls are such suckers over musicians. Not that I'm one to talk- ask anyone who's seen me around the girl who plays bass in that band that's always at the club down the street.

Anyway, off topic, this isn't about my love life. I actually knew the musician, I've done a lot of piercings for the drummer in his band and sometimes he comes along. Name's Roger or something. She also brought along a skinny blonde guy with glasses and his hair sticking up. And _he_ brought along his camera. He was kind of cute though- in a needy, desperate, innocent kind of way. If you're into that kind of thing. Oh, and guys. You'd probably have to be into guys. Just an idea.

Bringing the guy (who introduced himself as Mark) was her big mistake. (I got her name too- Mimi.) Not the tongue ring- that was sexy. But, yeah, it probably would have been better for Mark to wait outside with her other friends. But, hey, none of us knew that then.

Our place is really small; it's usually just Aaron and I working there. We have another girl working part-time but she generally flakes out on her shifts, leaving Aaron and I alone. Don't ask me why we still keep her, I've never really figured it out myself. Aaron is a little more into the whole tattoo thing and he's more artistic anyway, so he does most the tattoos and I do most the piercings. Which is probably why I ended up doing Mimi's tongue. That, and Aaron seemed just a *little* preoccupied with Mark.

Now, I can't stand it when people come in to get piercings looking like they're going to an execution. What's the point in getting a piercing if you're not going to enjoy it? I've never understood. Anyway, Mimi wasn't like that; she was _definitely_ into getting this done. While I was getting my stuff ready she sat in the chair and held her boyfriend's hand, talking excitedly about the whole thing.

"I'm so excited! I mean, I've been thinking about getting this done for such a long time, but I only just got up the courage to. I'm such a wimp!" Mimi laughed lightly as her boyfriend leaned over to kiss her. Somehow I still doubt she was or is a wimp.

"Well, I'm just gonna warn you, it's not completely painless; it _is_ going to hurt a little bit. And you're not going to be able to talk properly for a bit," I warned as I came over with the needle and a sterling silver bar. Lots of people don't splurge for that, but I guess she didn't want an infection. Always good.

"Nothing says I have to talk." Mimi leaned over and rubbed her nose against Roger's. I rolled my eyes, all this sappy sweet stuff was beginning to get to me. I got the clamp from Aaron to hold her tongue out; it was the closest thing I could get to dropped a bucket of cold water over her head at the time. I quickly stuck the needle through her tongue and slid the bar in. She looked a little shocked that I had done it so quickly and tears began to well up in her eyes but they disappeared as soon as I undid the clamp and Roger pulled her onto his lap, whispering something in her ear. I don't know what he said, but she laughed and stuck her tongue out, which relieved me. I hate it when people cry because their piercings hurt, it's kind of an insult, to me, almost. I know, I think too much but that wasn't the case then, so it doesn't matter anyway.

"Alright Mimi, you've got to keep this clean if you don't want to get infected. That means you need to brush your teeth almost religiously and use mouthwash every time you eat." I handed her a small plastic bag with mouthwash and such in it, we always do. Most of our customers don't use mouthwash normally, so it's a smart idea. "When you get home, suck on some ice. It might bring the swelling down a bit. Oh, and for the next two weeks, no…" I began to blush, I've always had a problem discussing this with heteros. Don't ask me why, it should be just the same, but its _not_. Honestly.

Mimi understood though, saving me from a potentially *interesting* moment. "No blowing Roger?" Or causing another one. "Gotcha, I think we can deal with that, don't you, Rog?"

"I dunno…" he replied, teasingly, as he held her a little bit more tightly and began to kiss her neck. Ugh, again with the sickeningly sweetness. If I ever start to act like that in a relationship _please_ slap some sense into me. It's just too much.

I stood up and threw the needle I used away then went over to the sink and washed my hands. We run a _clean_ place here, it was always my goal to be respectable. Besides that, AIDS is more common then ever among my friends and I didn't want to put anyone else in risk. "Alright, Mimi, that's $50. If you get an infection or just have any questions, don't hesitate to stop by or call." I handed Roger a business card as Mimi dug through her purse, looking for the money. 

I've actually made a lot of friends that way, for some reason people trust the person who did their piercing. Probably because it didn't kill them or give their tongue gangrene. Or *ahem* other parts. Anyway, I've actually became pretty close with Eddy (the drummer) over the many times I've pierced him and, amazingly enough, we do hang out. We go looking for chicks. Pisses him off to no end when I come home with someone and he doesn't. Anyway, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get my foot in the door with Mimi. My current theory is that even though she's a hetero, maybe she has some dyke friends.

As Mimi continued digging through her purse and Roger reached around her to drop the card in there, I remembered something. "Hey, Roger, you guys are performing tomorrow night, right? I mean, I got my information from Eddy and we all know how reliable that boy is." I rolled my eyes and leaned across the counter.

"He's gotten better, we do have a gig tomorrow. You stopping by?" Roger asked, as Mimi handed me three twenties.

I busied myself trying to give Mimi her change. I hate cash registers, I swear, they're all in on a conspiracy to make a fool out of me. I sucked on my finger as the tray on the cashier register popped out and jammed it against my belt. "I could. Told Eddy I would. How much of a support group do you want me to bring? You know, so you guys can _pretend _you have some type of fans."

"Funny, Lisa. Why do I take abuse from the random girl at the piercing place?"

"Because otherwise you'd be taking abuse from someone else and I'm nicer then most people?" I let out a little squeak as I caught my finger on my tongue ring. This was just not my day. And no, I didn't pierce my own tongue; I'm not that stupid.

"I think someone needs to get laid." Roger smiled mockingly and held his hand out for the change. Maybe making friends with random crazy people isn't the smartest idea, especially when the random crazy people can talk like they know you. Roger has always been able to do that. Drives me insane.

"You set me up with someone and I'll be nice. We'll see what happens." My finger finally stopped yelling at me, so I handed _Mimi_ the change. "Come back if you need anything else pierced." She smiled and shrugged apologetically as they started out the door, Mark following along behind them.

Right before they left, Roger turned around and raised an eyebrow at me. "Come to the club for our gig tomorrow. I'll find someone for you. Sadly, I'm not in the mood to be 'abused' every time I come here." He winked and then the door closed behind them.

I sighed and set my elbows on the counter. My mom always tells me 'Lisa, keep your big mouth shut.' And do I listen? NO! I glanced over at Aaron who had been talking to Mark this entire time about God knows what and was currently staring at the place where he had been standing. "Oh, please, don't tell me you _like_ him." 

Things would **_NOT _**be turning out well. 

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Love it? Hate it? Trying to figure out what we're on? Hehe, it's all good, just tell us in that little box down there. And, by the way, this is just the introduction; things are going to get very bad for our little Marky. (They turn out pretty well for Lisa though.) And um... on, if anyone cares, I (Erin) _will_ have more of 'How We Got Here' up soon, I just have to get rid of my writers block.

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Disclaimer: Lisa, Aaron, Eddy and the girl that work at the piercing place are ours. Everyone else belongs to Jonathan Larson, etc etc.

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	2. II. Aaron: "Who's Boy Toy?"

Fan-Fic

II

Aaron

"Who's Boy Toy?"

Lisa's voice brings me back to reality as she pokes me and asked for the clamp I just sterilized. I give it to her and try to pay attention as she goes over to Mimi and starts talking about how it will hurt a bit. She's this short Latina who's pretty cute for a girl. As Lisa tells her about basic hygiene I look back to her little boy toy. Actually as she looks like she's with Roger, this musician who I've tattooed and done some stuff for the drummer in his band, the guy I'm looking at probably isn't _her _boy toy. Which means that he might be single, which could be a very good thing considering the fact that he's adorable. Cute, not huge or macho so he probably doesn't have this huge 'I can control all" attitude. He is kind of quiet though, I wonder if he's always like that or if he's just shy.

I shake my head again and look up when Mark manages to bump into me. As he half-falls over I grab his hand and pull him up so that he doesn't land on the floor. Okay he's _really_ cute! "Hey, sorry… I didn't…." He sputters looking genuinely embarrassed.

"Hey don't worry about it," I smile. "Most humans fall over once and a while and as I do more than my share of it I really can't complain. But seriously, are you okay?"

Turning bright red, which I must say, is very cute, he manages to say somewhat coherently, "Yeah I look like a fool but as you don't seem to mind that's great."

"I don't. Hey I'm Aaron by the way."

"Mark, you work here?" He asks shyly, making him soooo adorable.

"I do, what do you do?" I wonder, hmmm maybe I can _run into him_ sometime, I wonder if he believes in fate…

"I'm a filmmaker and I love it, I'm all over the East Village. At the moment kind of unemployed but I'm looking so… bye," he says as Roger pulled him out the door. The East Village, hmm? Well that's not bad and if he lives anywhere near Roger than I can probably run into him. Hmmm, cutie.

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This is just a short chapter, an introduction to Aaron, if you will. Oh, everything else from now on will be in present tense, only the introduction from Lisa is in past tense because… erhm… it's the introduction? And important? And special?

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Disclaimer: Lisa, Aaron, Eddy and any other random unfamiliar characters are ours. I'm pretty sure that everyone else belongs to Jonathan Larson and etc.

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	3. III. Mimi: "These Are My Emotions"

Jean Valjean is the main character of Les Miserables

III

Mimi  
"These Are My Emotions"

I wake up in the morning and immediately go into the bathroom to brush my teeth like Lisa told me to. I am _not_ going to let my tongue get infected- I have enough to worry about right now; I don't need to deal with that too. Recently, the doctor has been switching around my AZT doses and it's wrecking havoc on my system; the infection would just make it worse.

After I finish brushing my teeth, I stick my tongue out to look at it. Oh, icky! The area around my tongue ring is all red and crusty! That's not good at all… I pick up the bottle of mouthwash and quickly swish it around in my mouth. I spit out the mouthwash and stick my tongue out again so I can see it in the mirror. Damnit! The nastiness is still there! Just then, I see Roger enter the bathroom and I quickly pull my tongue back into my mouth. I don't want him to see this, it's gross enough to me and it's in _my_ mouth. "Morning baby."

Roger blinks sleepily, then focuses on me and seems to wake up a bit. "Morning Mi." He wraps his arms around my waist and sets his head on my shoulder, still yawning. I can just guess what he's going to ask really soon though. Finally, Roger seems to wake up and kisses my neck. "Mimi, let me see your tongue ring." 

Damnit, why do I have to be right? "Later Rog, I want breakfast. My stomach is eating itself inside out." 'My stomach is eating itself inside out'? Brilliant Mimi. He seems to accept that though, and we go into the kitchen to eat cereal. I spend the entire meal trying to figure out how to avoid showing Roger my tongue. After I finish eating I go over and crawl into his lap; kissing along his hairline and hoping I can just avoid the whole tongue thing.

"Mmmm… that's nice, Mimi." Roger grins and tightens his arms around me, kissing my shoulder around my shirt strap. This is why we spend so much time in my apartment, rather then in the loft. Mark always yells at us when we act like this in the morning in their loft. I think I need to get him a girlfriend, then he'd be a hypocrite to yell at us. He needs to get over Maureen first though, and I'm not quite sure how to speed that along. I'll figure- Roger pulls away slightly, disrupting my train of thought. "Mimi… let me see you tongue." I clamp my mouth shut and shake my head, it's gross and I don't want Roger to see it. "Mimi… please… baby… it's so sexy…" He gives me a puppy dog face and I- unable to resist him- reluctantly stick out my tongue.

Roger just stares down at it, trying to hold back a repulsed look, I can tell. "Oh… ummm… wow Mimi, that's kinda gross. It looks infected." He pulls his arms away and scratches at his forehead. "Maybe you should go brush your teeth or something, that's pretty nasty." Hint to Mimi: get the hell off me now. I wish I couldn't tell what he actually means so well, it hurts right now.

I slowly get off his lap and go into the bathroom. I wish I hadn't shown him, this is even worse then I thought. I brush my teeth for almost half an hour but when I spit and rinse, my tongue isn't any better—if anything it's worse. I just stand there and stare at my tongue, it's disgusting. It's all swollen, the crusty part has spread and there's a whole bunch of black stuff just around the ring. How the fuck did that happen? No wonder Roger was so… Holding back tears, I decide to take a shower, they always make me feel better. 

I climb into the shower but the water comes out red and cold. Damnit! It's not fair! I twist the knob and just stand under the red water until finally the rust clears and the water heats up. After my shower, I feel a tiny bit better, but not much. I try everything I can think of to fix my tongue- mouthwash, rubbing alcohol—I even try putting lipstick on over the black stuff. This is stupid, I'm overreacting, Roger's going to love me no matter _what _my tongue looks like. I quickly change into one of my favorite outfits and go out into the living room/kitchen/den/foyer/whatever-else-those-yuppies-might-have.

Roger's not here? Why isn't Roger here? Maybe he went upstairs to… I don't know… get a pair of pants? I'm sure there's a completely logical reason he's not here. I'm just going a little… odd, cuz I'm upset about my tongue. I can talk to Lisa tonight and it'll be okay, I can deal with this until then. 

I want my Roger… I want him to hug me and tell me that it's okay and he loves me despite my tongue. I'm going to go find him. I pull on a pair of boots- I've always needed boots to be tall enough- and go up to the loft. Okay… ummm… what's that sound? That's not a normal loft noise…

I push open the door and don't immediately see anything. I notice a foot poking over the side of the couch and run over to find Roger laying on top of Mark on the couch. Icky! _My _Roger! _Mine_! Why is my Roger making out with Mark? "Rog…?" 

Roger looks up at me, blushing guiltily and pulling his hand out of Mark's pants. Whoa whoa, what? Pulling his hand out of Mark's pants!?! This is even worse then I thought… _why_ is this happening? "Sorry, Mimi, your tongue is just really really nasty. And Mark's tongue is tasty…"

I feel my mouth drop open and I try to say something but my tongue is too swollen. Excuse me? _What_ did he just say? _My_ tongue is nasty and _Mark's_ tongue is tasty? This is _not_ what's supposed to happen! At **_all_**! Finally I manage to force out, "I… bu… ick!" I just stare at them in disbelief, this is _not_ happening to me.

**__**

*FLASH!* 

I wake up screaming, sweaty and with tears streaming out of my eyes from all directions. It was a dream, Mimi, just a dream. Calm down, chica.

My screaming wakes Roger and he quickly sits up, rubbing his eyes, then wrapping his arms around me tightly and stroking my hair. "Shhhh… Mimi, shhh baby, are you okay? Shhh, don't cry sweetie." I think he thinks it has something to do with my AIDS, since I'm shaking violently too. "What's wrong?"

I sniffle a little bit and press my head against Roger's chest. The feeling of his arms around me is just so reassuring, that's what I was looking for in my dream. "Bad dream…" I mumble, looking up at him. His face visibly loses a lot of tension and I can tell he's relieved that it doesn't have anything to do with AIDS. We sit in the bed, just holding each other for a few more minutes.

"Wanna tell me about it?" Roger asks into my hair, which he's still stroking. I'm so happy he's here with me… although I don't think me telling him all about my dream is the best idea. I'll just alter it slightly.

"Ummm…" I reach over and click on the lamp on my beside table. "Roger, is my tongue nasty?" I stick it out so he can see.

Roger chuckles and looks down at my tongue, shaking his head. "Of course not, baby, it's sexy. I told you that when you got it, I told you that when we went to bed and I'll tell you that every time you ask."

I smile slightly. "But it doesn't look infected or anything?" He shakes his head again, still looking slightly amused. We sit in silence for a few more minutes. "Rog… you don't think Mark's tongue is tasty, do you?"

At this, Roger can't hold it in anymore and starts laughing hysterically. "_Mark's…_ _tongue…tasty…?_ Mimi… oh, don't tell me that's what your dream was about. That's not a nightmare at all- unless I'm having the dream- it's just *too* funny." I glare at him and he immediately stops laughing. The dream scared me, I don't know what I would do if I lost him, especially to- ugh- _Mark_. "Mimi, listen to me, I do _not_ think Mark's tongue is tasty, I'm not attracted to Mark at all. I love you, okay baby?" I nod, smiling and he reaches over to turn the light back off. "Good. Go back to sleep, okay."

I settle back down in his arms and am about two inches away from sleep when I realize that I didn't say it back.

*****

So now I'm sitting in front of the mirror, fighting with my hair. It just will not do what I want it to. I want to put it up for Roger's show but it just will not. Now I have to change my entire outfit, stupid ass hair. "Rooooog…" I whine, wandering back into my bedroom. "I don't have anything to wear tonight…"

He looks up at me and raises an eyebrow. "Can't you wear what you're wearing?" He's busy trying to pull on a pair of leather pants without sitting down. It doesn't work.

"No! It doesn't go with my hair down!" I go over and shove him down on the bed, pulling up his pants for him. "Roger… you have to help me!" He sighs goes over to the closet, handing me a blue sweater-top and a pair of red and yellow plaid pants. "Roger, no! That doesn't go together at all! You are no help!" I stamp my foot then stomp over to the closet to find some clothes. I frantically flip through my closet, not that I'm starting to get a little worried. This is one of the first gigs they've had since the Well Hungarians got back together and I want it to be special. 

I calm down slightly, though, as I feel Roger slip his arms around my waist. "Mimi… you're gorgeous…" I hear him whisper in my ear as he reaches around me to grab a blue dress and my sleeves. I haven't worn that outfit in forever. 

"I just want to look special…" I say quietly, taking the clothes from him. I have a feeling that tonight _will_ be special though. Just because… I don't know _something's_ going to happen, it always does. I quickly change into the outfit he hands me, not bothering to leave the room and sit down on my bed to pull on a pair of fishnets. I should get nicer tights. As I struggle with the twisted leg, Roger sits down behind me.

"Mimi, calm down, it's just a gig. There's going to be lots more. This isn't anything too important. Are you still stressing out over that dream last night?"

"What? Me stress out? Never." I laugh slightly and go over to find my boots. I'm still a little upset about realizing that I didn't say 'I love you' back last night. "I'm good. Hey, I love you, you know that, right?" I pull on my jacket and offer my hand to him.

"I do now. Come on, Mimi, let's go. I'm supposed to get there early." He takes my hand and leads me out the door as I force a smile. That dream from last night is scaring me a little, I mean, I know he wouldn't leave me for Mark but…I'm just going to fix it. I'm going to tell Roger that I love him all the time and pay close attention to him… and… I don't know, ask Lisa what else I can do to stop my tongue from getting infected. I'm going to fix it all.

It's all going to be okay. 

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Okay, that's the closest your going to get to M/R in this story, so be happy! And… umm… don't know when more'll be coming, but shouldn't be too long, I have too much time on my hands.

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Disclaimer: Everyone in this chapter is owned by Jonathan Larson, etc. Lisa's owned by us, but she's only mentioned.

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	4. IV. Lisa: "Feel Like Going Insane?"

Lisa Boy Toy

IV

Lisa

"Feel Like Going Insane?"

I'm standing in my room _trying_ to get ready for this whole club experience tonight. It's not working. None of my pants fit. Someone please tell me _why_ my pants don't fit. They _used _to fit. Now they all fit around the ass, but they're too baggy around the waist. You know, maybe I'm just stressing about this. It's been about _3 months_ since my last date. That's way too long for me, but I've just been so busy at our place. This'll probably be good for me. Damnit, why don't these pants fit!?!

I sigh and go back over to my closet, digging through it and finding a pair of brown leather pants. Haven't worn these for awhile, nearly forgot I had them. I pull them on and am delighted to find that they actually fit without a belt. Success! I smile happily at my reflection in the mirror, then realize that I look like a moron and instead pull on my ROCKET TEAM shirt. I shouldn't be stressing this badly, I mean, knowing Roger-which I _don't_- he probably forgot. I'm just pulling on fingerless gloves when someone knocks on my door and I open it to find Aaron standing there.

"We're going to the club, huh huh, Lisa?" He's almost bouncing with this huge-ass grin on his face. "Do you think Mark'll be there? I mean… if he's Roger's friend and I think he's Roger's friend he should be but I don't know, he might not, he might not be into the whole club scene, he seemed kinda quiet but maybe he's just shy…" 

I sigh and lock the door behind us. "Damn boy, who gave you sugar?" I push down on his shoulders to make him stop bouncing and start walking to the club as best I can in new shoes. "I'm sure Mark'll be there, he and Roger look pretty close but do _not_ scare the poor kid away. You have to calm down, you don't even know if he's gay yet."

Aaron pouts at me as we enter the club and I can't help but laugh. As insane as the boy is, he's my best friend. I grin and lightly shove him away. "Go, Aaron. Frolic. Enjoy the grandeur of the club while you wait for your little soon-to-be boy toy to arrive."

I laugh more as he skips off, quickly disappearing. The boy's such a fruit. Oops, sorry "Mommy". Forgot I can't use that word unless I have a dick. I shake my head and attempt to continue into the club, but someone grabs my arm and I immediately stop. Hmmm… "Mimi?"

"Lisa, oh good, that's you. I thought maybe I was getting some random person's attention." The little Latina stares up at me, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Lisa… is there anything else I can do to stop my tongue from getting infected? Cuz… I mean… if it gets infected, that's going to be gross and Roger's not gonna-" She breaks off and blushes slightly. Okay, so she's a _paranoid _little Latina. 

I actually have to stop and think for a minute; people don't usually come to me demanding more information. I think most people actually _forget_ most of what I tell them. "Well… ummm… don't eat anything to hot or spicy, no milk-type foods… know what? Stop by the place tomorrow afternoon and I can probably have a print off of what you can and can't eat."

"Great! Thanks Lisa!" Mimi impulsively leans forward and hugs me then darts off into the club- to find Roger, I presume. Well now, that was just incredibly odd. I wonder what's up with her? Eh, not my business. At the moment, my business is to find Roger and see if he actually remembered.

After blindly walking through the masses for a few minutes, I manage to find my way to the stage and set my arms on it as Roger comes over. "Hey, Lisa. I see you actually decided to stop by. Bring any groupies?"

"Brought Aaron. Does he count?" Roger- who actually knows Aaron pretty well- chuckles. "What about you? I'm being nice…" Roger lets out a quiet stream of cursing, letting me know he forgot.

"Umm… yeah, I brought… him!" Roger points at a relatively buff guy standing by me at the stage. Could be hot except for one *small* problem…

"Roger, next time you pretend that you remembered to set someone up- take into account their sexual preferences- hmmm?" I can't help but laugh at the expression on his face and reach up to pat his hand. I'm in an amazingly good mood for some reason. Maybe I'm just feeling lucky. "Don't worry, band boy, I'll find my own girl. You just… I don't know; do whatever it is you do to get ready to perform. Ta ta, Roger."

I wiggle my fingers and wander off into the club. Hmmm… maybe finding my own girl is going to be harder then I thought. Eventually the band starts up and I sit on a barstool sulking. Perhaps tonight isn't going to be as great as I thought it- oooh! My gaze immediately focuses on an incredibly sexy woman dancing at the edge of the crowd. She looks really familiar… ohmigosh, it's the one who kissed me last Christmas at the Life Café. Now, normally I wouldn't remember, but she's _really _hot. Definitely memorable. Ooh, and she's motioning to me.

I grin and make my way over to her. Maybe tonight is going to turn out better then I was thinking it would a few minutes ago. Grinding with a random girl in a bar, very nice. Or not... I cringe as a black woman stomps over to us. Girlfriend. Damnit, I usually can tell. Granted, girls who are taken usually don't flirt with me in bars. "Maureen…" the woman growls.

"Pookie! I didn't… pookie, this isn't what it looks like…" 'Maureen' blinks her eyes innocently at her girlfriend then turns back to me and grins. Okay, who's playing who here?

"Uh huh…" This 'Pookie' rolls her eyes and stomps away. Oops… I feel bad for causing trouble.

"Pookie!" Maureen turns to me and smiles apologetically. "Sorry, I better go after her. Didn't mean for you- or her- to see that… call me sometime." She pulls a pen out of her cleavage and scribbles a number down on my hand. Oh my. "Joanne works 9-5, Mondays to Fridays. Sometimes she works later, but I can't tell you when right now."

She starts to walk off after the woman- who I presume is "Joanne"- wiggling her hips all over the place. Suddenly she stops and runs back over to me, pressing her lips against mine. "Please call…" She winks then runs off again. Wow.

I stare down at the number on my hand, somehow I don't think me getting involved in something like this would be the best idea. But that woman's got a… something. I don't know what. A quality. Whatever it is, it's making her totally irresistible. I think I may regret this later on. She is _so_ hot though. 

Damn you, Lisa. You know next to nothing about this woman, except that she doesn't seem to have any problem cheating on her current girlfriend with you. And what's to say that she wouldn't do it to you too once someone sexier comes along? Ugh, why am I thinking like this anyway? _Nothing's _going to happen, because I'm not going to call her.

But she's _so_ hot. I don't want to be a back-up girlfriend though, lurking around in the shadows and screwing while the other girl's at work. Except, what says it's going to be like that? Damn, I'm thinking about this too much. I should just go by my impulses… they're not making much sense either. What a time for my brilliantness about girls to give out on me.

Okay, since when am I so insecure? She wouldn't cheat on _me_. I mean, I _saw_ that Joanne, if you had a choice between her and me… honestly, who are you going to choose? Ooh, I'm a bitch. It's _true_ though! Just look… alright, have to calm down. I'll think about the whole Maureen situation tomorrow, when I'm in a slightly better state of mind. Somehow, I don't think me calling her girlfriend ugly and fat in my head is something that's going to influence my decision just a *little*. Can't ever tell her that I had this conversation with myself. Not only would it make her think I was insane, it's just a little insulting. 

Maybe I'll ask Eddy if he knows anything about her. He knows almost everyone in this scene. I want to know what I'm getting myself into.

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If I call. _If._

Damn she's hot.

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Just to reassure you all, this is _definitely_ not going in the m/r direction, we have other plans for little Marky-boy. Anyway, what do you all think of the new plot development? Let us know in that little box down there!

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Disclaimer: Anyone who's not Lisa, Aaron or Eddy (probably) belongs to Jonathan Larson, etc. 

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	5. V. Roger: "It's So Simple"

Jean Valjean is the main character of Les Miserables 

V

Roger

"It's So Simple"

Who does she think she is? Does she really think she can make it all better by saying she loves me _now_? I wanted her to say it last night when I said it. Okay, calm down. She was upset and tired, so she had a right to not say it. And she _did_ say it this morning- yeah, after she had a night to convince herself that she did. Fuck! Roger, you _know_ Mimi loves you, that's why she came back.

Suddenly I feel Mimi start trembling next to me. "Mimi? Are you okay?" I look down at her and hold back a sigh. "Baby, did you forget to bring a jacket?" She nods and I, sighing, shrug my jacket off and place it over her shoulders. "Is that better?"

She nods again and I wrap both my arms around her as we continue walking. "Baby, you have to remember to wear a jacket- you can't get sick again. You scared me too much the last time." I bend down and kiss the top of her head. This is so ironic that _I'm_ telling her how to take care of herself- it's supposed to be Mark taking care of me. I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing as I picture Mark's reaction to me acting responsible. "Promise me you'll remember a jacket the next time we go out?"

"I promise." Mimi smiles and settles comfortably into my arms as we continue walking toward the club. She fits into my arms so perfectly. I'm smiling like a moron at that thought when Mimi turns to look up at me and runs her hand over my bare arm. "I stole your coat, aren't you cold? I'm sorry, Rog." I find myself smiling even more when she says that.

It's so simple, but it just made something completely obvious. Mimi really does love me, I feel so bad for doubting her. I have thousands of these little revelations every day and I feel horrible after every one- after I realize I was doubting her for no reason. I wish I wasn't so damn jealous and stubborn all the time. I can't help it though. Sometimes I wonder if I really deserve her, she's beautiful and sweet and sexy and intelligent and I… well, I think that at one point in time or another I've managed to hurt everyone I care about. Mimi's voice suddenly penetrates my thoughts and I feel her rubbing my arm probably as hard as she can. "Roger?" Mimi asks, her voice shaking a little- she's scared. "Rog, are you okay? You didn't go into shock from the cold or anything, did you?"

I laugh a little at how cute she sounds and tighten my arms around her. "No, I'm fine Mimi, it's not that cold out here. I was just thinking." She still looks a little concerned so I lean down and softly kiss her. "I'm fine, I promise." I look at our surroundings and grin. "Look, Mimi, we're here. We'll go inside and then you can stop worrying about me being cold all together, alright?"

"Alright," she says softly as I take her hand and lead her into the club. She takes off the jacket and hands it back to me. "When are you playing?"

"In about half an hour, I should start to go get ready." I bend down and kiss her again. Our relationship can get _really_ physical sometimes, Mark yells at us, but that's the only way I can think of to show my feelings to her. Pathetic, huh? Especially since I'm the guy who didn't even want to hold hands on the night we met… I suddenly realize that maybe Mimi won't want to stay alone. "Do you want to come with me, baby?"

"No, I'm going to wait for Lisa to come, I need to ask her something." Mimi smiles and squeezes my hands, probably sensing my confusion. Why does she have to talk to the piercing girl? Is there something wrong with her tongue? "Don't worry, I'm fine, I just want to ask her about tongue care. You go warm up, I'll be there."

I smile then squeeze her hands back and go to the stage to start getting ready. It doesn't work too well though because I keep getting distracted and interrupted. Not long after I start warming up, Lisa comes by. Fuck! I forgot to get Maureen to bring one of her friends for Lisa. Amazingly enough, she doesn't slap me for it, she just goes off to find someone to hook up with. That was odd. I shrug slightly and go back to tuning my guitar for the next few minutes.

Once I finally think I have it tuned, I start picking out a few chords that do _not_ sound right as suddenly Mark's face pops up in front of me. I jump back a little and stifle a laugh. The kid looks so out of place here with his glasses and sweater. I'm still not sure why he always wears those things; no matter how much I make fun of him, he still insists that he's "cold". I think it might be some kind of reflex from when he was growing up… poor kid. I'm going to ask him sometime when it's just me and him- we do have real conversations sometimes. But right now he's sticking his camera in my face and I give my customary growl. I can't believe he brought that thing to a club. "Close on Roger, tuning the fender guitar for his first gig, since he sold the car and re-set up the band." For some reason, whenever Mark narrates for his camera he seems to start to talk lyrically. I watch as he presses a button, absently wondering what he's zooming on. "Smile, Roger?"

"Sorry, buddy." I hold back a grin and start fiddling with the tuning again. "Kinda busy." There, that sounds right. I set down the guitar and actually look at Mark. "Hey, thanks for coming tonight. It really means a lot to me, you know?" Ugh, I've never been good at expressing my feelings but that was just pathetic.

"No problem, Roger." He smiles at me and turns the camera off. "I wouldn't have missed this, I know your band's important to you." We don't sound like ourselves at all. I wonder if he's still mad that I'm always staying down with Mimi… "Rog… you didn't ask Maureen to come, did you?" So that's what this was all about.

"I did." I look at the expression on his face and suddenly start to become defensive. "Mark, she _is_ still my friend. Just because you two aren't banging anymore, doesn't mean—" I break off, watching Mark's facial expression change again. "Besides, she overheard me and Mimi talking about it." I look down at my guitar pick, suddenly feeling bad about saying that. "Sorry Mark," I mumble.

"What was that you just said?" Mark asks, "discreetly" switching his camera on. I wonder if he realizes that I _can_ see that red light-thing flashing at me. 

"I _said_ that I was sorry," I say loudly, looking directly into the camera. Mark smiles brightly at me and turns the camera on himself.

"Hear that folks? Roger Davis himself, actually apologizing. And I've got it on tape." I look up at him and growl before refocusing on the guitar pick. Mark turns the camera off again and looks at me, still smiling. He looks psychotic. "I'm going to have to show this to Mimi the next time you're being stubborn."

I roll my eyes at him and hold my hand out for the camera. "Mark, shut up, give me that thing and go find some fling to make you forget Maureen." To my amazement, he's actually considering this and slowly starts to move the camera towards my outstretched hand. "Look, I promise I'll take good care of your "baby". Now go out there and have some fun for once." He smiles tentatively and sets the camera down in my hand then runs off into the club. I actually didn't intend for him to go along with it, but at least he's not hiding behind that thing for once. I put the camera down in my guitar case so I won't forget it while the rest of the band starts warming up.

Once everyone's ready we start playing 'Juicy Fruit' to get the club attention then segue into one of our more hardcore songs. Everything's so familiar and as I become more comfortable with the song, I start to look over the club. Damn, it feels so good to be back. I hold back a grin as I start to take in the girls in the audience… they all want me. I know they do. I suddenly catch sight of the Latina standing right up by the stage, not dancing at all, just standing and watching me, smiling. Fuck Roger, why would you care what those girls think? You have _Mimi_. Look at her. She's gorgeous and she loves you and you love her. We need each other. I don't want to do anything to make myself lose her again and I've been trying so hard not to let myself get jealous. It's so hard, sometimes I just want to lock her into the apartment to stop her from going to work. I don't want her stripping for all those other guys… but she can't stand it when I get jealous so I force myself not to react when other guys look at her. And now _I'm_ the one screwing things up, thinking about those girls.

I hate myself. I have to make this all better tonight. She doesn't need to know I thought this, but I have to make things better. Because I couldn't stand to lose her again, it's as simple as that. 

We move into one of the slower songs, one that's just me after the first few bars. I can fix it… I can make myself feel better over all this. Right before the rest of the band drops off, I hold my hand out to Mimi, motioning for her to come onto the stage. She, after looking surprised and hesitating for a second, climbs onto the stage as gracefully as she can and perches on her knees by my feet. I smile and sing the rest of the song directly at her. After it ends, I set the guitar down then take her hand and stand up, facing her. I lean down and softly kiss her, aware that a lot of people are going to be pissed off at me. "I love you Mimi," I whisper, running my thumb over her cheek. 

She reaches up and picks my hand up in hers. "I love you too Rog. Look… I think I need to get down, people are going to be really pissed off at the both of us… especially all of your girl groupie-fans."

"I don't care… I don't need them, I need you. I love you and I'm always going to, so I don't care. It's so simple." I'm briefly amazed by how sappy I sound, before realizing that I really do mean everything I'm saying, no matter how stupid it sounds. Things are going to be okay, at least for awhile. I squeeze Mimi's hand and return to my guitar, feeling a thousand times better then before.

-----

Okay, so I'm not the greatest at writing for Roger, but we needed this part to move the plot along! Anyway, Aaron should be reappearing within the next part or so… soooo… yeah, that plot's going to be getting a lot more focus.

****

Disclaimer: Everyone in this part except Lisa belongs to Jonathan Larson. And _technically_ Lisa belongs to him as well.

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	6. VI. Aaron: "So Cute!"

VI

Aaron

"So Cute!"

Where is he? Come on, where is he? He's late! Okay… well, technically he's _not_ late, since we don't exactly have a date or anything, but still! I'm supposed to see him here… I want to talk to him again! Okay, I really need to calm down, when I get upset I get all red and that's not attractive. But where is he?

I finally catch sight of Mark standing by some blonde by the bar. The blonde gets her drink and walks away, leaving Mark looking totally approachable. Awww… could he look any more adorable? I smile to myself and straighten out my shirt then stride over to the bar. "Hey Mark," I say, so proud of my voice for listening to me and not going all squeaky.

Mark jumps slightly as he hears his name, then turns around and smiles when he realizes that I'm someone he knows and not some random crazy kid. "Hi Aaron!" He seems so happy that someone's talking to him. I guess he feels kind of odd… he really does look out of place. Don't get me wrong, I think the sweater looks _good_, it's just… a _sweater_ in a _club_? Oh well, he's offbeat. I like it.

"So… uh… I guess you're here to see Roger, huh? I came because Lisa wanted someone to come with her and, you know, Roger asked her to come and so yeah, I figured she'd want some company, but she hooked up with someone so I'm here-" I break off and turn bright red as I realize I'm rambling. I don't usually get this flustered; I wonder what it is about this guy? "Anyway, so, uh… are you and Roger friends?"

"Yeah, we went to high school together." Mark smiles and blushes a little, looking down. "He's my best friend in the world." That's so sweet, I love it when guys are loyal to their friends! "We-"

Just then the band starts up and I lose the rest of what he was saying. Damn, for once I don't want to dance, I really want to talk to him. "Hey, do you wanna find somewhere quiet so we can actually hear each other?" I nearly yell, moving my face closer to his. He nods and I smile happily. "Kay." I resist the urge to take his hand and instead just lead him around to the back of the club. I know the owner and I'm sure she won't mind. "So… tell me about you and Roger?"

"Well… I dunno, we went to high school together and one day after school these jocks were, uh… were…" Mark frowns and looks down. I kind of get the idea that this is a touchy subject for him, so I reach over and tap his shoulder then smile reassuringly. "Were beating up on me, because I was this wimpy little loser and… and Roger stood up for me and so… I don't know, we just kind of bonded after that. We're the most unlikely friends though, honestly."

"Ohmigosh, that's like me and Lis!" I exclaim, totally forgetting my original plan to just be a good listener. "Because, I mean, we met in this gay bar, right? I mean, it's not like we were trying to pick up each other or anything- cuz that's yucky- but anyway, she was sitting there bitching to some chick about how she didn't have anyone to work at her tattoo place she was opening and I overheard and then when the chick got disgusted and left, I went over there and-"

"Aaron?" Mark interrupts gently, almost like he's not sure if he should or not. Awww… that's so cute! Okay, I really need to stop finding every little detail about him so adorable. "Ummm… just a question… but how did that relate to the story about me and Roger making friends?"

"Because me and Lisa are totally not the type of people you'd expect to be friends and we met under really strange circumstances, but we're still best friends?" I am being really giddy and babble-ly, that's so unlike me. I really need to stop scaring this poor boy to death. "So… uh… that girl in the club? Is she your girlfriend?" Wow, that was blunt. 

"Who? The one who was by me at the bar? Nah, I don't even know her." Mark blushes a little and looks down again. I am totally overwhelmed by the urge to hug him- he's so damn adorable- so I do. He looks back up at me and smiles. "Thanks. Anyway… I don't exactly have the best of luck in the romance department… I'm not exactly a Casanova or anything."

I laugh, looking at the expression on his face. I know he's being serious but he just looks so… oh, I don't even know how to explain it! "Awww… I'm sure you have good points. You seem so sweet… people are just idiots." Why is he giving me that look now?

"Uh… thanks." Awww man… I didn't mean to make him uncomfortable. "So… what about you? Romance-wise?"

"Me? Ugh. There are no good guys in this city, you know that? They're all straight." I cross my arms and stick my lip out, realizing that that's the typical "girl" whiny thing. 'All the good ones are gay.' "Or macho. Ugh, I hate those guys who are overly macho. I like the nice, sweet, cute ones." I look over at him and grin. Why is he shifting around like that?

"Oh… uh… oh oh!" Mark randomly exclaims, getting all excited as he thinks of something. Ooh, he's such a cutie when he's excited. "I know the perfect guy for you! His name's Tom, but we all call him Collins- he's the greatest, he's one of my best friends too. He's big, but he's not really _macho_ or anything… he's totally what you were looking for. He's, like, 6'4" and has these long dreadlocks, he's pretty thin and he's _so_ nice and smart, he's an anarchist but he teaches philosophy at NYU…"

Mark keeps talking, but I just block him out. Don't tell me I read him _wrong_!?! I'm _never_ wrong. _Ever_. And I totally thought he was into me too… why is he trying to set me up with his friend? I'm confused… I really really thought he liked me. I mean, I'm sure his friend's great but… I want hiiiiiiiim! My Marky! He's so cute and adorable and… ugh, I can't believe I was wrong.

"So…? What'd you think? It's not late or anything, I could take you back to the loft and you could meet him. I honestly think you two would be great for each other. Oh… ummm… his last boyfriend, he… died… so, I'd be careful… he gets sad sometimes but…" 

I start to tune him out again, partially… I don't want his depressive friend, I want _him_! Although from his descriptive… this Collins guy seems pretty… not bad. I guess it couldn't hurt to have a possibility… And maybe I could move onto Mark if things don't work out between Collins and me. Not that I'm going to plan for things not to work out, I just… I'm honestly not going to plot! Okay, maybe Mark's descriptive made him seem like a _little_ more then not bad. I have two types of perfect guys and this Collins guy could totally fit one of them. Most guys I've been with are such idiots; it'd be nice to meet a smart one. And we can always be friends or something if there's no sparks, I totally need friends in different groups of people- my friends right now are all the same. I smile brightly at Mark. "Sure, I'd love to meet this guy. So to your loft?"

"Yep, to my loft." We both stand up and he smiles back at me. Awww… he's so cute. I don't think I'm ever going to get over that. Adorable. 

-----

Ummm… yeah, that was only *slightly* filler-ish. Don't worry, the plot's moving along. And everything _will_ come together eventually. (Everything being the storylines.)

****

Disclaimer: Everyone except Aaron and Lisa (I guess) belongs to Jonathan Larson.

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	7. VII. Collins: Cynical Town Can Be Tough ...

VII  
  
Collins  
  
"Cynical Town Can Be Tough On An Angel"  
  
They all went to some club, apparently to meet someone. They asked me to come but I had papers to mark. and I didn't really want to, I guess. It's not that I don't have a life without. well, it's not, no matter what Roger accused me of the other day. He doesn't have any room to talk anyway- at least I didn't lock myself up in the loft for 6 months and refuse to talk for 2. Although, sometimes I think maybe I should have. The other day at work, one of the other professors asked me if I still missed him. I couldn't believe it. She actually had the nerve to ask me if I still missed my Angel. The way she said it. he. he wasn't some shoe I lost and could just replace. he's my soulmate and nothing- and nobody- will ever be able to replace him. Ever.  
  
I know, Roger said that about April, but this is different. What we had- me and my Angel- it was so much more real. And Roger saying that he managed to fall in love with Mimi doesn't mean anything. As great and sympathetic as he's been, he doesn't understand. No- stop it, Collins. You know this'll just upset you. And that's not what Angel would want.  
  
I've been thinking about that a lot ever since. I've been thinking about that a lot. It's almost become a second life's motto for me- "What would Angel want?" and "No day but today". It sounds kind of crazy but. it makes me feel so much better about doing some things, knowing that Angel. well, knowing that he'd approve, I guess. Because I know that my Angel wouldn't want me to be sitting around moping forever and it makes me feel better when I suddenly catch myself having fun. Besides-  
  
Suddenly the door opens and two excited voices interrupt my thoughts. I recognize one as Mark's and the other's as. I have no idea. It's higher then Roger's but it's obviously not a girl's. this is only slightly unusual. Mark doesn't normally bring home guys. did he come out and not tell me? Suddenly someone plops into my lap and I jump in shock. "Mark?" Again with things being unusual. Mark doesn't normally sit in my lap. hell, nobody normally sits in my lap.  
  
"Collins!" He laughs loudly, and motions the other guy over. Alright, I'm really starting to get frightened now, this is incredibly odd. "I want you to meet someone. Collins, this is Aaron. Aaron, this is Collins." This is quite unusual. it's not that Mark can't be loud and hyper, but he's usually not around people he doesn't know very well. It takes him a long time to get comfortable around people. but he's obvious very comfortable around this guy.  
  
"Ummm. hey Mark." I poke my head around Mark, so I can see the guy he was talking about and hold my hand out. "Hey Aaron, like Mark said, I'm Collins. My first name's Tom but all my friends call me Collins and. uh. you can call be Collins." Not that it's obvious that I'm slightly uncomfortable. Aaron shakes my hand, which I then use to poke Mark in the back. "Come on, Marky. Let's get up off Collins now."  
  
Mark pops up off my lap and laughs again. "Sorry, Collins. Anyway, I'm going to go into my room now, leave you two alone. I'll be in there if you need me, but. have fun!" He grins at Aaron then practically skips into his room. Things are starting to make sense now.  
  
"So. uh. I hear you're a teacher?" Aaron grins at me, very similar to Mark's grin, and fidgets around a bit. Brilliant Mark. yeah, I definitely understand what's going on now, and I think I'm going to need to fix it before anything happens.  
  
"Yeah, I teach. Computer Age Philosophy, at NYU." I look up at him and smile slightly, shaking me head. "Okay, I understand what Mark's doing, and I appreciate it, you can tell him that. But I don't know if Mark told you this. I recently came out of a relationship with my. with my soulmate. And. ummm. I'm just really really not wanting to go into another relationship, so. I mean, don't think this reflects badly on you, because it doesn't, you're cute and all, but I can't." This is pathetic. I'm usually a thousand times more articulate than this. except for when I was around my Angel. He could always reduce me into a stammering idiot with that look of his. God, I miss him. I know, I claimed I was "over" it and I am, I'm not in mourning anymore. but I still want him back. And I know that's never going to go away, but that makes me happy. I know I'll never forget him. And I would never want to forget him, anything about him.  
  
I suddenly realize that Aaron is staring at me, looking slightly concerned. "Sorry, I was just thinking. Anyway, I didn't mean to get your hopes up or anything. Why don't you go talk to Mark instead or something?" I glance over at his door then look back at Aaron, holding back a smile. "You'd be better for him, anyway," I say softly, not sure if I'm saying it to myself or him.  
  
"Yeah. I actually kinda approached him for him, I didn't expect this. I thought." I watch Aaron turn bright red and almost struggle to keep talking. "I thought he was into me too, but I guess I read him wrong. he's straight."  
  
"Maybe." I say, laughing. "Or maybe he just doesn't know if he's gay yet because he hasn't met the right person. I think there's a. something here though, Mark doesn't get comfortable with people that easily and he's been incredibly comfortable with you. I mean, you saw him, he doesn't act like that around new people. Just go talk to him, okay? Maybe it'll take some time. but I really think there's something there."  
  
"Thanks, Collins." That's not really the reaction I thought I would get, but maybe there's more to that 'thanks' than just the one word. I've never really been the greatest at reading people, which is just ironic. I suddenly realize that Aaron's no longer sitting in front of me and I can hear muffled voices coming from Mark's room.  
  
"No. he said he wasn't really ready, I think he still misses the Angel you were telling me about."  
  
"Oh. hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"  
  
"No, it's okay. It's really not a big deal. I'm sure I can find another good one who's not straight."  
  
"I bet you could. I mean, it wouldn't be that hard for you to find a guy, cuz. you know. you're cute and. I mean."  
  
"Don't worry about it. Anyway, what were you doing while I was out there?"  
  
I smile and return to my papers. I kind of feel like Angel. he would have done that, he loved doing things to help other people find happiness. Like when Mimi was upset about a fight between her and Roger, he was always there to hold her and reassure her that everything would turn out okay and they'd get back together. And now she comes to me. I don't mind. I think Angel would be proud of me, and that means the world to me. I miss him, but I'm going to keep part of him here. Because I would never want to lose my Angel.  
  
   
  
   
  
-----  
  
Okay, well. plot is moving along nicely, I have no idea when the next chapter will come, but it'll probably be a return to the Lisa-Maureen storyline. I hope you all didn't forget about them!  
  
Disclaimer: All the characters, other then Aaron belong to the genius that is Jonathan Larson. :)  
  
----- 


	8. VIII. Lisa: "She's Got The Power"

VIII

Lisa

"She's Got The Power"

Come on, Lis, call the girl. Call her. She told you to... she wants you to... she said "please" and she doesn't exactly strike me as a "please" kind of person. _Call her_. I stare down at the paper I had copied her number onto. I can't believe I'm stressing this badly over this... it is completely unlike me. I'm the cool, confident, _normal_ one who doesn't let stupid little things like this get to her. That's Aaron's job... to not follow his head. Not me. _Call her_.

"Haven't you called that chick yet?" I hear someone ask, as elbows plop down onto my shoulders. Oh my. That's slightly frightening. I turn around to see Aaron grinning down at me.

"What are you doing in my apartment, Aaron?"

"I came to see you and boost up your confidence to make you make that call."

"Uh huh... how did you get in here?"

"I have my ways."

"You stole the spare key, didn't you?"

"Ummmm... no comment." Aaron grins again and bounces over to my couch, sitting on it. He has been in _such_ a good mood lately... it's sickening. And it's going to be even worse once he actually hooks up with that Mark-guy... yeah, he hasn't really been acting like himself lately either. Lust does crazy things to people.

"You're such a bad liar, you know that?"

"Hmmm... yep! I get through because of my cute face." He laughs and bats his eyelashes at me, causing me to roll my eyes. I wonder if the other guy's acting like this too? I feel so sorry for Roger if he is, I can barely stand Aaron right now and he's not _that_ much worse than usual. "Anyway, honey, you have to call that girl."

"Why should I listen to you?" I pout, crossing my arms. I know he's right... I've been telling myself the same thing, but I hate hearing it from someone else. Especially _him_, he gets really pompous when he's right too often.

"Because she wants you too. And you'll make yourself miserable if you don't. Cuz I know you, and you'll just sit there, wishing you knew what could have happened. And if you call, something _will_ happen. Besides, you're kinda cute for a girl, I think she'd be into you. Soooo... you call her... now!!" Suddenly Aaron jumps over the back of the couch and launches himself onto me, grabbing the piece of paper from my hand and the phone. He stands up and quickly dials, then holds the phone out to me, laughing hysterically. "Too late now... it's ringing and you can't just hang up because then you'll look stupid. Don't worry... it's gonna turn out great!" He laughs some more and leans over, kissing my forehead, then runs out the apartment door. Maybe his relatively happiness-induced insanity _is_ slightly helpful.

__

Maybe. I sit there, clutching the phone tightly, until someone picks up and the familiar voice from the club comes through the lines. "He... hey. This is Lisa... I met you at the club the other night? I had the ROCKET TEAM shirt and brown pants?" Brilliant Lisa... you don't need to give her a full physical description, I'm sure she doesn't pick up that many random girls at clubs while she has a girlfriend... you're just going to look like a moron now.

"Oh yeah! Hey Lisa." The fact that she sounds totally cool with everything calms me slightly; I'm probably just overreacting anyway. "I never really introduced myself at the club-Maureen Johnston. What took you so long?"

"To call? Hey, I have a life. Don't have tons of time to call girls I meet in clubs who have girlfriends."

"Hey! About that... She's not really my _girlfriend_, exactly..."

"Oh yeah? Who is she then? The random woman you live with, screw and gets jealous when you dance with other woman? No, that's not a girlfriend at all..."

"That's right, it's not. She's my stage manager... I can see other people if I want to."

"Uh huh... Maureen, I'm not gonna be a "back-up" to the stage manager when you guys fight."

"What makes you think we're fighting?"

"Because when you have a girlfriend and you're _not_ fighting, you don't go looking for random people in bars. And said random people don't call you..." I bite down on my lip, what am I doing? If I like her- and I do- I shouldn't make her pissed off at me... that's probably the stupidest thing I could do. "Hey, look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No, I'm sorry," she interrupts, surprising me. She doesn't really strike me as an "apologies" type of person either. "You have crazy morals, that's cool. I can work with that... we don't have to actually _do_ anything. We can be "friends"... for as long as I'm with Pookie, anyway. You wanna go out for coffee?"

"I... uh... okay..." She gives me a place and time, then hangs up, leaving me blinking down at the phone in my hand. What a strange person... I've never ever had a conversation like that. And amazingly, I'm okay with this arrangement... hell, I'd probably be okay if we weren't only "just friends" even while she was with 'Pookie'... which is just odd. Totally unlike me. But, hey, I think I know that I would be able to convince her to choose me. I actually think I can still do that, it'll just take longer.

It suddenly hits me. I have a date- even though it's not really a "date"... it is. I dial Aaron's cell and once he picks up, I squeal, "Damn, I love you boy! Get back here and help me choose something to wear!"

*****

I stop in front of the window and smooth down my hair before stepping into the coffee shop. Of course it chooses _today_ to go all frizzy. I roll my eyes, then smile as I notice Maureen sitting at a table near the corner. This is insane. I hurry over and sit down across from her. "Hey... sorry I'm late. I couldn't kick my friend out of my apartment and I didn't exactly trust him there alone."

"It's okay." Maureen shrugs then points at the two cups on the table. "I ordered for us already. Cappuccino. You like?"

"Ummm... yeah... yeah." I smile and take a small sip of the coffee. It's not my most favourite, but I can deal... besides, it was sweet of her to order. Girls aren't usually sweet, girls are usually bitchy. That's why people like gay couples but not lesbian ones... too much bitchiness. "So... uh... you mentioned "stage manager". Do you act?"

"Yeah, act, dance, sing, play the cowbell. I do it all." She laughs and pulls a newspaper article out of her purse. "I'm a performance artist... this is from my last protest. They tried to have me arrested, but I got out of it... I have my ways..." She laughs again and winks at me as I scan the article.

"Is there a reason you're dressed like a duck?" I ask, raising an eyebrow as I hand it back. I'm surprised when I realize that she's actually blushing.

"It was supposed to be symbolism... not my best work..." She admits, tucking the article away. "I've done better stuff before... remind me to show you my scrapbook sometime. Anyway, before I start to sound totally insane, rather then creatively genius, what do you do?"

"I own a tattoo and piercing place a couple streets over." I grin and flick my tongue ring at her. "Couldn't you tell?"

She smiles, and leans forward intently. "You got any more piercings?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I lean forward, closing the distance between us, and lightly kiss her, then pull away laughing. "You have to wait until next date to see."

"Date?" She raises an eyebrow at me, obviously trying to cover up for the fact that she _is_ flustered. I really do read people well. "I thought we were "just friends" cuz of your morals."

"Apparently my morals get blinded by a pretty face." I shrug and take another sip of my coffee... cappuccino tastes better than I thought it did. "You're going to have to make a choice eventually, though, babe."

"I know." Maureen sighs, surprising me once again, as she doesn't really seem like the type of person to show "weakness". "Can we not deal with that now? Just enjoy the coffee and each other?"

"Of course." She smiles at me and I smile back, watching her sip at her coffee. I start laughing hysterically as I realize she has foam on her nose, and she looks up in shock. "Baby..." I lean across the table and lick the foam off her nose.

"I thought you said I had to wait until the next date."

"I said you had to wait until the next date to see the rest of my piercings. Didn't say anything about this." I laugh at the expression on her face and settle back in my chair. She keeps surprising me and I love it. 

I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen next, but I actually don't care. I just know that there's no way its going to be boring... and it's probably going to be hard, but life is never easy anyway. I can deal with things being hard... I look at the woman across the table from me, talking excitedly and smile. I think she's worth it. 

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Well... I don't know, something about this chapter bothers me (the middle), but... hey... it's you're guys' opinion that matters so if you wanna tell me... *hint hint*, go right ahead, reviews are enjoyable.

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Disclaimer: Everyone other than Lisa (I suppose) and Aaron belongs to Jonathan Larson, _not_ me.

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	9. IX. Roger: "We Really Are..."

IX

Roger

"We Really Are…"

I look down, smiling happily at the girl curled up in my arms. It's amazing, but things have actually been going pretty well for us lately. We haven't fought in two weeks. _Two weeks_. That's forever for Mimi and I. Maybe we've finally settled into the normal couple-dom or something… I never would have thought I'd aspire to be normal, but this feels so good. Didn't realize how much I missed being happy. I bend down and lightly kiss her forehead as Mimi sits up and blinks blearily. "You okay?" I ask softly, gently running my fingers through her hair.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She smiles softly and leans up, lightly kissing my mouth. "I was just tired for a little… I was out late last night." I frown and growl a little as she says that, feeling my blood start to boil. What is she trying to get at? "Rog…?" 

"Out late? Doing what exactly?" I pull my arms back from around her and cross them over my chest, raising an eyebrow. I _know_ I'm too jealous, but it's not like she gives me any reason to trust her.

"Working! Damnit, Roger, I was working, I had the late shift." I see the fire raising in her dark brown eyes as she pulls abruptly away from me, standing up and planting herself in front of the couch, her hands resting on her hips. "What the hell would you think I'd be doing?"

"Goddamnit, I don't know… getting drugs somewhere… fucking some guy… I don't know, Mimi! You don't tell me things!" I lean back against the couch and glare up at her. Since when is _she_ on the defensive? God, I didn't want to fight today, it's just so hard… my temper gets the best of me so often.

"I would _never_ cheat on you, Roger!" She's not going to cry, is she? I would not be able to deal with making her cry, that's not right. We're supposed to… but she's not supposed to cry. She's not supposed to cry because I made her cry, what kind of boyfriend makes her cry? "And I wouldn't… God, Roger, I went through _withdrawl_ for you! It was the hardest thing I ever… do you have any idea… I did it because I love you… Roger, I wouldn't… Not to you!"

"I'm sure if you ask Benny, he'll say the exactly same thing." I didn't mean to say it. It really didn't, it just slipped out. I'm cursing myself, when I suddenly realize that Mimi's eyes have filled with tears and she's desperately trying to hold them back. I'm trying to figure out what I did to her and when our perfect two weeks broke down, when suddenly I feel a stinging pain across my cheek. She slapped me.

"Asshole! Fuck, you can't even react when I hit you… it's just all about you, isn't it? I don't even matter… just the _idea_ of me! You have to have me to yourself but you don't give a damn about _me_! Or how I feel… Goddamnit, Roger, how am I supposed to feel when you can't even fucking trust me?" She's crying now. Real crying, her tears are just flowing down her cheeks and her mascara is all over the place and her eyes are red… How could I have done that? You really don't think, do you, Roger? I really hurt her… how could I not have realized what I do? I hurt her so bad and I don't even realize… I could break her if I wanted to. But I don't. I just want her here, with me. And whole, she can't break, I need her here I need her to be okay I can't have done that.

"Mimi…" I reach my arms out towards her and she just reaches out and slaps me again.

"Don't touch me! Asshole, you can't just… you didn't even react! You don't care!" She sobs loudly and starts unsteadily making her way towards the door. She's leaving? She can't leave… I can't have made her leave. I can't be without her… leaving is my job. I never should have made that my job… neither of us should have to leave. I jump up and run over, darting in front of her and locking the door.

"No. Mimi, you can't go."

"And why the fuck not? You've left often enough… get out of my way, Roger." She tries to push past me and I just grab hold of her shoulders, stopping her.

"Mimi, no." I give up trying to struggle against her and scoop her up into my arms, carrying her back over to the couch easily, even with her struggling. She's so tiny. "You can't go, because then I can't…" I set her down on the couch and she immediately tries to dart away again. I rest my hands on her shoulders. "No, Mimi, please. Listen." She sighs and settles back on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow. I rake my fingers through my hair and sigh, I don't know where to start. I just know that I don't want her to leave, I don't want to go through everything again, I don't want to go back to the way I was before. I hated that.

"Mimi… I…" She just stares up at me, the tears still running down her face and I feel like shit. How could I have done that to the woman I love? I sigh and reach forward, gently wiping off her face. "I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to… I'm a dickhead, alright? I never should have said that thing about you and Benny, I do trust you, I just…" I sigh again, trying to put my thoughts it order. "It's just so hard for me to believe that this amazing kitten would be interested in me and I'm just so scared I'm going to lose you… but I guess that would be my fault… you're just so wonderful and I don't want to… I'm sorry for leaving, I can't stand…" I lean forward and lightly brush my lips over her forehead, hoping she won't slap me again.

She doesn't. She barely even reacts, she just sits there staring at me, her tears still running down her face but not near as much as before. "You apologized…? You never apologize… it doesn't work like that. You yell… and then I yell… and then you leave and then I cry and then we both yell to Mark and then eventually he convinces us to make-up but… it doesn't work like this…"

I sigh and lean forward, grasping her hands in mine. "Baby, I'm so sorry… I'm not going to leave, not anymore… I never should have done that to you in the first place. I'm never going to leave again, I was just so scared… And… I'll try so hard not to be jealous anymore. Just… please…"

Mimi sits there, staring numbly forward at me. "You apologized… I don't under…" She gives up talking and shakes her head, dropping my hands. Damnit, she isn't mad _now_, is she? I don't understand how to fix it if she is. Suddenly I'm aware of her arms around me and she crawls into my lap, my arms immediately settling around her. "I'm sorry too, Rog. I didn't want to fight, I just… I want you to trust me, I would never… any of that. I gave it up for you and…"

I sigh again, burying my face into her hair. "Mimi… don't apologize… it's not your fault." It's not, it's mine. And Benny's. He shouldn't have said that about… poor Mimi, actually dating that ass… if he didn't lie about that too. Which he probably did. Ass. "I'm gonna try so hard… because I don't like the thought of losing you… again."

"I know, baby, I don't like…" I feel her tilt her head and I lift mine up to look at her. "This doesn't mean we're not going to fight."

"No, of course not… we're always going to fight." Maybe that's not the best thing to say, she looks upset again. "Just… no more leaving over stupid things." She still looks upset. "No more leaving?" She looks happier now, she's nodding and… smiling… good. I feel like shit for making her cry. "I'm so sorry, baby, I didn't—"

"Shhh…" She places a finger over my lips and I quickly break off. "Don't be upset… we made up, I forgave you… things are going better, nobody's going to leave… isn't this a cause for celebrating?" Huh? She quickly shifts so she's straddling my lap and kisses me roughly. Oh, right. Brilliant Roger.

I gently run my hands up her back and smile into the kiss. I finally understand why we keep coming back to each other. What we have really is real and we _do_ need each other. 

God, I love her.

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Yeah, so Roger has feeling, uh huh… but it works. And, I promise, this chapter really isn't coming out of nowhere.

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Disclaimer: The characters belong to Jonathan Larson (in this section) and… yeah, we all know that anyway.

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	10. X. Mark: "What More Can You Want?"

X

Mark

"What More Can You Want?"

I shift around nervously, staring up at Aaron's door. What am I doing here anyway? Just because I heard Roger and Mimi yelling… That's such a random reason to run away. What's to say he was going to come stomping up to the loft and start yelling at me anyway? For all I know, they made up on their own this time. I grin a little at that thought, like _that's_ possible. Suddenly Aaron pulls the door open and I nearly jump a foot.

"Marky!" He exclaims excitedly, pulling me into a big hug. I have to laugh at that, he's so cute when he gets excited… he's almost always excited when I see him, though. It makes me happy to have someone so happy to see me and I don't even mind that he uses the same nickname Maureen used to. You'd think it would… but as long as he doesn't take to calling me 'Pookie' I don't mind at all. Besides, he wouldn't start calling me Pookie anyway, that's what you call people that you're in a relationship with. And he's not interested in me anyway so—wait, what did I just think? Why should it be of note that he's not interested in me?

Aaron suddenly seems to realize that I'm not entirely here and pulls away from me, resting his hands on my shoulders and peering into my eyes. He's so nice to me, that makes me happy. "Mark… you okay? Nothing's going wrong?" I shrug a little and, still resting his hands on my shoulders, he leads me into the apartment and sits me down on his couch. "Okay, Mark, what's up? You running over here is kinda unusual, I usually get at least 3 phone calls making sure it's alright for you to come."

I just shrug again, looking down at the ends of my scarf as his hand creeps over and tightly clamps onto mine. He really wants me to talk, doesn't he? "I don't know… I just… I heard Mimi and Roger yelling downstairs and I really wasn't in the mood to listen to Roger ranting about how she's "such a skank" or anything like that, so… I left. And… I figured I'd come here because Roger wouldn't ever be intelligent enough to figure out I was here and follow me to rant like he would do if I went to Maureen's and…" I shrug again, and he meets my eyes, gently brushing a finger over the back of my hand.

"Does it really bother you that much when they fight?" Aaron asks softly and I suddenly tighten my hold on his hand. I didn't expect that. I pretty much expected him to go "Awww, poor baby", tell me I could stay there and ask me if I want a beer like Maureen would. He's so different from her... I should have started running here earlier. I should have _known_ him earlier.

"I… It's just ridiculous, I mean… they're grown adults—or at least he is, she's still a teenager—they should be able to work out their own problems. And I'm just sick of being Roger's verbal punching bag, you know? _Everytime_ he's the littlest bit upset with her, I get screamed at. 'Mark, why don't we have any food?' 'Mark, why don't I have any cigarettes left?' 'Mark, why the fuck is all your fucking camera shit all over the fucking loft?' It's barely even his loft anymore, it's not like he's ever there. And then Mimi… 'Mark, how come I'm never good enough for Roger?' 'Mark, why can't he just trust me?' 'Mark, the girls at the club keep trying to pass me smack and I don't know how to keep saying no.' It's like I can't even have my own life, because I have to keep taking care of them and making sure they don't kill each other and it's just too much sometimes, I…" I trail off as I suddenly realize how much I just said. I never talk about myself… maybe I never really get the chance.

I'm suddenly aware of Aaron's arms wrapped tightly around me and his hand pressing my head against his chest, stroking my hair gently. This is very unusual… someone is trying to comfort me. I'm not totally sure how to react, so I just carefully slip my arms around him as well. It's interesting if you think about it, I've been around people so much, I've always had at least one roommate… but I've also always been pretty alone. And I've never realized either… I pull my head up and look right at Aaron, surprised by how clear he seems. I glance down at my hands, one resting on my leg and the other curled around one of Aaron's arms, and I realize what feels so strange.

I don't have my camera. I'm away from home, in a completely different situation, that I've never been in… someone taking care of _me_. And normally I'd want to get this on film so I could dissect it later and figure out every exact motivation, but right now I'm… fine. I'm fine with just living it and not worrying about thinking about it later. Because later doesn't matter, it's going to be fine then too.

"Mark…" I hear Aaron say softly, tipping my head up to look at him. "I'm sorry… and you're right, they are adults. You can come here anytime you need to, promise… hey!" He smiles excitedly and lets go of me, jumping up off the couch and running into the kitchen. I sit there, feeling mystified and, for some reason, missing the feeling of him holding on me. Suddenly he jumps over the back of the couch and happily drops something into my hand. I look down at it and raise an eyebrow. A key? "See, now you can come anytime… even if I'm not home!"

I start laughing at him—he's sitting there, nodding at the rate of about a thousand a minute and just looks adorable. I lean over and hug him tightly, surprising myself. I've never really been one for physical contact. "Thank you, Aaron."

"Hey, you're welcome, cutie!" He hugs me back and I can almost feel the happiness radiating from him. It's kind of odd, I've never had anyone this happy to be around me. My arm starts to fall asleep, so I pull them back, sitting smiling up at Aaron a bit.

"You know what's funny? The other day, Roger had this big, long conversation about how it's like you and me are together. It was—" I break off as I notice his face fall. Did I say something wrong? I mean… we're friends, right? And I'm straight… right? "Aaron…?"

"Mark… I have to say something. You're gonna hate me and be disgusted and probably never want to touch me again, but…" He trails off, visibly swallowing hard and I just sit there staring. What's wrong? "I… okay, you know when we met at that club and I was talking about what kind of guys I like? I was… I was trying to describe you. I mean… at first I was just like 'Ooh, cute guy, I like' and then we started hanging out and got to be friends and I think I… I fell in love with you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Mark… I never meant to ruin us, I just wanted to hang out, but it's hard watching… I can't help but love you…"

I sit there for a second, staring at him. He loves me? Somehow… this doesn't surprise or bother me at all. I feel almost like I knew already. I tentatively reach a hand out towards him and am suddenly very aware of a pair of very male lips pressing against mine. Aaron's kissing me? And suddenly, I'm kissing him back. This is very odd… but at the same time, it seems comfortable. But I thought I was straight? Suddenly Aaron breaks away and nearly throws himself across the room. "Mark, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" He's not going to cry? I don't want him to cry…

I find myself carefully getting up from the couch and going over to him, slipping my arms around his chest. He likes contact… maybe that'll stop him from being sad. "Aaron… I like you too. I just… I'm straight and—"

"I know… I'm sorry, Mark, I didn't mean to… I didn't want you to be uncomfortable, I didn't want to kiss you… I couldn't help…" He's crying… no, that's not good, he's usually so happy. I nervously reach up and wipe a few tears off his face, surprised by how familiar that seems too.

"I'm not… Aaron… I don't mean… I _like_ you. 'Cuz I'm straight, but I still like you and I still want to hang out with you and maybe we could…" I lean up and tentatively run a hand over his cheek, then kiss him lightly. I'm kissing a guy… free will… and I don't care. It's just me kissing a guy that I… care about. Deeply. Love? Maybe I do love him… I could. That makes sense… and I guess it explains this feeling. I don't think I've ever _really _been in love before. I mean, there was Maureen, but she didn't really…

I finally pull away from Aaron and stand there, staring at him again. "Maybe we could… that. I mean, us getting together would make sense… we're close enough already and I… I love you too, Aaron." There, I said it. I can't take it back now… besides, it being said makes it real. 

He suddenly bursts out laughing and I jump. "Mark, you are so cute… look, we need to talk, okay?" I frown a little, that's always so ominous sounding. "Awww… don't pout, Marky… we just have things to figure out. They don't have to be now." I smile a little as his arms slip back around me and his lips are back on mine. Yay.

I feel the key pressing into my palm and I smile even more as I realize that it can be just fine. Yay, it doesn't matter, I'm going to be happy. Mark's going to be happy… and I have someone. 

I need to stop thinking, I always do this—dissect things. I push all thoughts out of my head and just focus on the guy in my arms. The guy I love… the _guy_. And I could care less. This is what I want… I want him. Love him.

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Yep… I've almost completed everything in this that I wanted to… unless people want more… in which case you need to tell me… *nods*

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Disclaimer: No one in this except for Aaron and (kind of) Lisa belong to me… they all belong to the wonderful Jonathan Larson.

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